The court filing cited concerns for the singer's physical and mental health

Published Aug 30, 2019 at 2:06 AM

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In this June 26, 2019, file photo, R&B singer R. Kelly, center, arrives at the Leighton Criminal Court building for an arraignment on sex-related felonies in Chicago.

Citing “no meaningful interaction with other humans” and “no time outside getting sunlight” R. Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg filed a motion Thursday requesting that his client be immediately released from solitary confinement.

The motion details the stark conditions Kelly has lived in since his arrest July 11th, when prison officials protectively separated Kelly from the general prison populations due to his celebrity status and pending charges.

Kelly’s been housed in the special housing unit known as the SHU—at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago, a highly restrictive floor with limited privileges.

The motion says that Kelly is being “unconstitutionally punished and segregated from the rest of the prison population,” as the Bureau of Prisons has placed him in the SHU—an area where “inmates go to be punished.”

Greenberg says his client is only allowed one visitor for each 90-day period, is not allowed any exercise or fresh air, is only allowed one telephone call lasting 15 minutes per month, is not allowed any television and can only purchase soap, other toiletries, and batteries for a small radio from the commissary but is not allowed to purchase snacks or candy.

Furthermore, the motion says that Kelly’s segregation in the SHU “makes it difficult to prepare for any trial,” citing evidence that the singer is handcuffed during visits, and there is limited workspace to review documents, write notes and read aloud every piece of discovery.

Greenberg’s motion also requests that the “court should consider the toll that solitary confinement” has on Kelly’s physical and mental health, saying “common sense counsels that anyone who is denied regular human contact and access to the outside will suffer severe consequences.”